Divine Providence and Human Anxiety In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus proposes that the life of the faithful should depend entirely on the Providence of God. This concept appears to be in direct contrast with the contemporary way of materially focused life. Whereas all those who want to follow Him should live a life exclusively dedicated to God, and not care about money and wealth (mammon). This clear-cut attitude of Jesus appears to imply that the Christian life and the pursuit of wealth, even if created by dedicated and honest work, are incompatible. Jesus could not have [...]

The Resurrection is a Revolution Every year has several days of celebrations, or festive days, during which we honour a religious, national or social event. These are meant to instil in our minds the deeper meaning of the occasion. For us Orthodox Christians the Resurrection, or Pascha, is a joyful and enthusiastic celebration. On the one hand there is a strong religious preparation (Great Lent, Holy Week) accompanied on Easter day by centuries-old customs, such as: the Easter candles; red eggs; Easter bread (tsoureki); lamb on the spit; and the exuberant spirit of friendship, joy, forgiveness and closeness with one [...]

The Candles of Easter On midnight of Holy Saturday, the Orthodox welcome the Resurrection of Christ with large white candles (lambades). This custom goes back many centuries, and its origin fades into the depths of history. The people light their Easter candles on hearing the priest chanting “Come and receive the Light ...” Their light fills the Church, and with the hundreds outside it, bestows a serene glow to the faces of the faithful. Everybody repeats “Christ is Risen”, as sung by the priest, and raises their Easter candle into the air. This movement signifies the abolition of Hades, and [...]

The Meaning of Life The problem of the meaning of life, and the purpose of us being on earth, has been the dominant existential question which every human being will have to answer at some stage of his existence in this world. It concerns not only grownup people, but also affects young people regarding their place in the complex society we live in. The great thinkers of history tried to discover the purpose of man on earth, but the answer was beyond the ability of the human mind. It is the True and only God, the Creator of the whole [...]

Christmas - An Invitation from Heaven The birth of Jesus Christ is described by the writers of the Holy Gospels with respectful apprehension. This is because they realised that this wondrous event was a heavenly invitation to every human being. The first worshippers of Christ were the shepherds, who were informed by the angels. Of the wise and educated, however, only the Magi (wise men) from the East responded to this invitation and came to worship the newborn King. In contrast, other astrologers saw the unusually bright star in the sky but made no effort to discover its significance. The [...]